SUV crashes into multiple cars at Seekonk elementary school

SEECONK, Mass. (WJAR) – A driver lost control of his truck in the parking lot of Mildred H. Aitken Elementary School on Monday afternoon, causing the truck to crash into several parked vehicles just minutes before recess, according to parents who witnessed the crash.

Witnesses said that no children were hurt, but several parents were injured.

Larry MacKinnon, a grandfather who was waiting to pick up his two grandchildren, said the truck backed up at speed.

NBC 10’s Leanna Faulk reports. ,

“I was stunned,” MacKinnon said. “All of a sudden it flashed and I saw it. I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’ No one should drive that fast.”

Photos shared with NBC 10 show extensive damage to at least eight vehicles, with debris strewn across the rear parking lot. McKinnon described it as one of the largest models from Cadillac, saying that the SUV involved was “a tank”.

“The destruction was brutal,” he said. “If parents were in the cars, they were hurt.”

One parent told NBC 10 she believed the driver was driving about 75 mph, adding that she “saw her life flash before her eyes” and realized she was seconds away from being hit.

He said he was “very grateful that no children were hurt.”

Another parent told NBC 10 it appeared to be “really an accident.”

The parents said the driver, a woman in her 60s, was “shocked and very apologetic” and that the truck may have slipped out of neutral before being jerked back about 8 to 10 feet. The parents also said the driver was not injured and another person in a nearby van was shaken but was able to walk away.

McKinnon said the timing is what scares him most.

“It was minutes away from the students coming out,” he said. “I’m still in a state of shock from what I saw.”

As of Monday night, Seekonk Police and Seekonk Public Schools had not released information about the crash.

NBC 10 has contacted both for comment and is awaiting a response.